5773

Let My Teaching Fall Like Rain In the glorious song with which Moses addresses the congregation, he invites the people to think of the Torah – their covenant with God – as if it were like the rain that waters the ground so that it brings forth its produce: Let my teaching fall like rain […]

The Torah as God’s Song At the end of his life, having given the Israelites at God’s behest 612 commands, Moses is instructed to give them the last, command 613: Now therefore write down for yourselves this song, and teach it to the people of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may […]

A Sense of History Ki Tavo begins with the ceremony of bringing first fruits to the Temple. The Mishnah (Bikkurim 3) gives a detailed account of what happened: Those that were near to Jerusalem brought fresh figs and grapes, and those that were far away brought dried figs and raisins. Before them went the ox, […]

The Parameters of Justice In Deuteronomy 24, we encounter for the first time the explicit statement of a law of far-reaching significance: Parents shall not be put to death for children, nor children who put to death for parents: a person shall be put to death only for his own crime. (Deut. 24:16) We have […]

Testing Prophecy In his enumeration of the various leadership roles within the nation that would take shape after his death, Moses mentions not only the priest/judge and king but also the prophet: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” Moses […]

Judaism’s Social Vision If you seek to understand Judaism’s social vision, look at its anti-poverty legislation: If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tight-fisted toward your poor brother. Rather be open-handed and […]

Greatness and Humility A sequence of verses in this week’s sedra gave rise to a beautiful Talmudic passage – one that has found a place in the siddur. It is among the readings we say after the Evening Service on Saturday night as Shabbat comes to an end. Here is the text on which it […]

Philosophy or Prophecy One of the most profound disagreements in Judaism is that between Moses Maimonides and Judah Halevi on the meaning of the first of the Ten Commandments. For Maimonides (1135-1204), the first command is to believe in God, creator of heaven and earth: The basic principle of all basic principles and the pillar […]

Tzedek: Justice and Compassion As Moses begins his great closing addresses to the next generation, he turns to a subject that dominates the last of the Mosaic books, namely justice: I instructed your judges at that time as follows, “Listen to your fellow men, and decide justly [tzedek] between each man and his brother or […]

The Danger of Suspicion It is a fascinating story and from it comes one of the great principles of Judaism. Two of the tribes, Reuben and Gad, see that the land east of the Jordan is ideally suited as pasture for their large herds and flocks of livestock. They approach Moses and ask to have […]